Maria Clara is a Brazilian post doc, a fellow of the Brazilian National Council for Science and Technology (CNPq), working under the supervision of Dr. Martin Crespi. The focus of Maria Clara’s research is to investigate the potential of plant sRNAs to trigger a new type of signaling based on trans-kingdom silencing in symbiotic bacteria during rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Outside the lab, Maria enjoys cooking and exploring new museums.